''Shakespeare in Love'' is a play by Lee Hall adapted from the film of the same title.

Production

The play premiered at the

Noël Coward Theatre The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's ...

London's West End The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

on 22 July 2014. It was produced by

Disney Theatrical Productions Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the flagship stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios, a major business unit of The Walt Di ...

and Sonia Friedman Productions and directed by

Declan Donnellan Declan Michael Martin Donnellan (born 4 August 1953) is an English film/stage director and author. He co-founded the Cheek by Jowl theatre company with Nick Ormerod in 1981. In addition to his Cheek by Jowl productions, Donnellan has made theat ...

, with design by Nick Ormerod and music by Paddy Cunneen. The original cast included

David Oakes Rowan David Oakes (born 14 October 1983) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in the series ''The Pillars of the Earth'', '' The Borgias'', '' The White Queen'', ''Victoria'', '' Vikings: Valhalla'', and for his discursive Natural ...

appearing as Marlowe, Tom Bateman as Will, and Lucy Briggs-Owen as the heroine Viola De Lesseps. The production closed on 18 April 2015. The production played to sold-out audiences during the 2016 Stratford (Ontario, Canada) Festival season. The director of the production was Declan Donnellan, with the rest of the original creative team from London show returning for the Canadian production. The first U.S. production of the play occurred on 18 February 2017, at the

Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary pla ...

. The play was produced at the Burbage Theater of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, as the first presentation of its 2018–2019 season. In 2017, the first South African production of the play took place at The

Fugard Theatre The Fugard Theatre, also known as The Fugard, was opened in the District Six area of Cape Town, South Africa in February 2010. The site is currently managed by the District Six Museum Board following the theatre's official closure in March 2021, ...

(

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

). It was directed by Greg Karvellas, produced by Eric Abraham and starred Dylan Edy as

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

alongside Roxane Hayward as Viola De Lesseps. It played to sold-out audiences and, due to its success, was brought back in 2018 with Hayward reprising her role, opposite Daniel Mpilo Richard stepping in as

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. In 2018, the Japanese version of the play was produced by

Shiki Theatre Company is one of Japan's best-known and largest theatre companies. Shiki Theatre Company employs over 800 actors and staff, and stages about 2800 performances a year. Shiki Theatre Company operates nine theaters for their exclusive use. Originally, ...

. The script was translated by Matsuoka Kazuko, and the production was directed by Aoki Go. It was staged in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

, and

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

. In 2023, a Korean version of the play was produced by Shownotw. The production was directed by

Kim Dong-yeon Kim Dong-yeon (; born 28 January 1957) is a South Korean politician serving as 36th governor of Gyeonggi Province since 1 July 2022. He previously served as the 4th Minister of Economy and Finance and Deputy Prime Minister from 2017 to 2018. Kim ...

and translated by Lee In-Soo. It was staged at CJ Towol Theater in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

. ''Shakespeare In Love'' became the first South Korean play of which ticket price exceeded 100,000 won. The production company said that the price hike was inevitable, stating "The play is having its first run in Korea, so we had to create everything from scratch ― the set, lighting, costume and others. We had to bring most of the set props from outside of Korea because the play is set in the 16th-century Renaissance period, characterized by its extravagance and glamor. Due to inflation, labor costs have also gone up."

Cast

;Original London Company * Lucy Briggs-Owen as Viola de Lesseps * Tom Bateman as

as Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe *

Paul Chahidi Paul Chahidi (born August 22, 1969) is a British actor. An associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Chahidi appeared at Shakespeare's Globe and appeared on Broadway in all-male productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and '' Richard III''. Cha ...

as Philip Henslowe *

Alistair Petrie Alistair Petrie (born 30 September 1970) is a British actor. He has starred in ''The Bank Job'' (2008), '' Cloud Atlas'' (2012), '' Rush'' (2013) and '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (2016). Petrie has also starred in the Channel 4 television ...

as Lord Wessex * Doug Rao as Ned Alleyn *

Anna Carteret Anna Carteret (born 11 December 1942) is a British stage and screen actress. Biography Carteret was born as Annabelle S. Wilkinson on 11 December 1942 in Bangalore, British India, the daughter of Peter John Wilkinson and his wife Patricia Ca ...

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

Ian Bartholomew Ian Bartholomew (born 23 August 1954) is a British actor and musician from Portsmouth, England who has worked widely in both theatre and television. In March 2018, Bartholomew joined the cast of ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'', as Geoff ...

as Edmund Tilney * David Ganly as

Richard Burbage Richard Burbage (c. 1567 – 13 March 1619) was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owner, entr ...

Abigail McKern Abigail McKern (born 1955) is an English actress. She appeared, alongside her father Leo McKern, in the last three series of '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' as Rumpole's young pupil Liz Probert. She has also played many other stage and television rol ...

as Nurse * Ferdy Roberts as Hugh Fennyman * Patrick Osborne as Wabash * Harry Jardine as Sam * Colin Ryan as

John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and '' The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and c ...

* Richard Howard as Sir Robert De Lesseps * Charlie Tighe as Nol / Musician * Tony Bell as Ralph * Thomas Padden as Boatman / Musician * Elliott Rennie as Catlin / Musician * Timothy O'Hara as Ensemble * Daisy Boulton as Ensemble * Janet Fullerlove as Ensemble * Michael Chadwick as Ensemble * Sandy Murray as Ensemble / Dance Captain *

Tim van Eyken Tim van Eyken (born 7 March 1978) is an English guitarist and melodeon player of Belgian descent. Career Van Eyken first started playing penny whistle after seeing James Galway on television. He graduated to playing for his mother, then a memb ...

as Ensemble / Musical Director ;Cast from 12 January 2015 * Eve Ponsonby as Viola de Lesseps * Orlando James as

* Edward Franklin as Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe * Neal Barry as Philip Henslowe * Nicholas Asbury as Lord Wessex * Ryan Donaldson as Ned Alleyn * Suzanne Burden as

* Richard Bremmer as Edmund Tilney and Sir Robert de Lesseps * Peter Moreton as

* Joy Richardson as Nurse * Paul Brennan as Hugh Fennyman *

Ncuti Gatwa Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. He rose to prominence as Eric Effiong on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Sex Education'' (2019–present), which earned him a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Te ...

as Wabash *

Gregg Lowe Gregg Lowe is a British actor born in 1986. Lowe is from Gorleston-On-Sea, Norfolk, and was educated at Cliff Park High School. In 2015, Lowe collapsed at the finish line after running the Toronto Marathon, he was dead for 3 minutes before bei ...

as Sam * Stuart Wilde as

* Charlie Tighe as Nol / Musician * Thomas Padden as Boatman / Musician / Musical Director * Elliott Rennie as Catlin / Musician * Andy McKeane as Ralph * Aaron Anthony as Ensemble * Jonno Davies as Ensemble * Florence Roberts as Ensemble * Sioned Jones as Ensemble * Ellie Nunn as Ensemble * Sandy Murray as Ensemble / Dance Captain * Nick Hart Ensemble / Musician

References

External links

*http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/shakespeare-in-love-to-get-west-end-play-8937636.html 2014 plays Cultural depictions of William Shakespeare Plays based on real people Plays set in London Plays set in the 16th century Disney Theatrical Productions plays Plays by Lee Hall (playwright) Plays based on films {{Disney Theatrical Productions